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Special Guest Selection by:
Karen Downey
Senior Curator, Belfast Exposed
Overview: In terms of general trends, there appears to be a strong interest in social documentary practice, with a clear strand of work that is highly subjective, expressive and often therapeutic in approach. I found some of the 'staged/constructed' work interesting in terms of the hybridization of the medium and expanding photographic practice in relationship to text, sculpture and video. I was surprised to find so few students working with found photographs and archival material using strategies of appropriation and collage. Similarly, I expected to see more collaborative and participatory work. I encountered a high level of technical competence, which was impressive in itself and enjoyable to look at. For those planning to work outside a commercial field of practice, I would encourage further conceptual and critical rigour, thinking through and beyond formal, aesthetic considerations to devise visual strategies which really interrogate a particular social or personal issue. I would recommend presenting an edit of no less than five images, if possible, to give some sense of the work and practice as a whole. Ideally the edit would be accompanied by a web link to more of the photographer's work, biographical information etc. Many of the statements seemed a little over aspirational in terms of language use and intentions for the work. I would suggest all that is really needed is a line on general idea or subject, approach and methodology/process. It would be interesting to read a line or two on critical problems encountered and how these were addressed. It would also be interesting to read a line or two on specific influences on the work, be they photographic or other.
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Karen Downey is Senior Curator at Belfast Exposed with responsibility for the exhibition and publication programmes. Recent exhibition highlights at Belfast Exposed include Northern Ireland: 30 Years of Photography (2013) in partnership with The Mac, and solo exhibitions by Allan Sekula and Hans-Peter Feldmann. New work projects have been developed with Nicky Bird, Sylvia Grace Borda, Mark Curran, John Duncan, Melanie Friend, Anthony Haughey, Kai-Olaf Hesse, Claudio Hils, Allan Hughes, Daniel Jewesbury, Dragana Jurisic, Anthony Luvera, Mary McIntyre, Aisling O'Beirn and Michelle Sank. Karen also works as an independent curator. In 2012 she was Lead Curator and Editor for Into the Light: The Arts Council - 60 Years of Supporting the Arts (Arts Council Ireland) and in 2009 she curated Northern Ireland's presentation at the 53rd Venice Biennale with a solo exhibition by Susan MacWilliam. She has extensive experience of book production and has published books with Belfast Exposed, the Arts Council of Ireland, and international publishers, Steidl, Hatje Cantz and Black Dog Publishing. |
Lorenzo Fusi »
Director, Open Eye Gallery Liverpool.
David Drake »
Director, Ffotogallery Cardiff.
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